
Pass -J)Ah4D 



PRESENTED BY 




RUXES 

id 



jafiiLWORCii. 




S W&KWIGK: 

(Next door to the Bank) 

Claremont, Kemlworth: Horsfall, Coventry : a nd 

the Booksellers in Warwick and Leamington. 



\ 

i 



V 




f2*t* 



/ 







A. Caesar's Tower. 

B. Site of Kitchen. 

C. Strong Tower. 

D. Great Hall. 

E. White Hall. 

F. Lobby, and Stair to 
V. Presence Chamber. 

G. Privy Chamber. 

H. Leicester's Buildings. 
I. Inner Court. 
K. Pleasaunce. 
L. Swan Tower. 
M. Garden. 



N. Gate House. 

O. Lunn's Tower. 

P. Stables. 

Q. Water Tower. 

R. Room in Walls. 

S. Head of Water, Passage from the Lake. 

T. Mortimer's Tower. 

U. Tilt Yard. 

W. Recess at upper end of Great Hall. 

X. Stairs leading to Vaulted Chamber-*. 

Y. Sir Rob. Dudley's Lodging. 

Z. Henry Eighth's Lodging. 



A GUIDE 



TO 



KENILWORTH CASTLE 



AND CHURCH 



BY THE EEV. W. DEAKE, A. M. 



WARWICK : 

HENRY T. COOKE, HIGH STREET. 

LAREMONT, KENILWORTH; HORSEFALL, COVENTRY; AND THE 

BOOKSELLERS IN WARWICK AND LEAMINGTON. 

*847. 






Gilt. 



fE3 121910 



KEXILWORTH CASTLE. 



1 ' Reft, Kenihvorth ! of all thine ancient glory, 

Thy grey monastic cells in ruin lie : 
But lo ! another name takes up thy story, 

And gorgeous Raleigh meets th' admiring eye. 

Even as of old he moved right gracefully 
Through thy sweet pleasaunce and its verdant bowers, 

When Dudley was the host of Royalty, 
And good Queen Bess was lodged within thy towers 
Where now the ivy trails, and ruin darkly lowers. " M S. 

The ruins of Kenilworth Castle may fairly court 
comparison with any of those time-worn relics of feudal 
days, which yet remain to us, whether we consider their 
picturesque situation, their magnitude and state of preserva- 
tion, or the historic associations connected with them. But 
it is not alone the Artist, the Antiquarian, and the Histo- 
rian, who visit them, to do grateful homage, each at his own 
peculiar shrine. It is not alone for the glorious tints which 
the rising or the setting sun casts upon the grey old towers 
— nor for the effects of light or shade, which the moon dis- 
plays, when she pours her silver flood of light through the 
deep windows, and plays upon the rustling mantle of ivy 
which shrouds the lofty pile — it is not alone that here may 
be traced the successive changes of domestic Architecture, 
from the Norman keep of Geoflroi de Clinton, to the gate- 
way of Bobert Dudley and the residence of Cromwell's 
Commissioner — it is not alone that these walls were be- 
leaguered by the Plantagenet, and held by de Montfort's 



2 KENILWORTH CASTLE. 

Son — that they witnessed the captivity of our second 
Edward and the triumph of Mortimer — that John of Gaunt, 
time-honoured Lancaster, had here a favourite abode ; that 
Harry the 8th had special liking for the spot, and that 
Charles the First completed the purchase of it begun by 
Prince Henry, his brother — it is not for these reasons 
alone that thousands of steps are yearly turned towards 
Kenilworth ; and that the monster type of the 19th century 
disgorges its multitudes daily to visit the tall keep which 
is the type of the 12th. Wonderful contrast, suggestive 
of deep and anxious thought ! yet Kenilworth has other 
sources of interest than these. It is a spot around which 
the wand of an enchanter has cast the spell of its most 
potent attraction ; and the Warwickshire village owes its 
world-wide fame to the pen of the Scottish Novelist. 

Yes, dear reader, well we know that could we read thine 
heart, as thou drawest near to the portal of Leicester's 
Castle, we should find it filled with remembrances of that 
tear-compelling tale, which has its scenes of deepest interest 
within these mouldering walls. Eight pleasant memories 
are rising up in the mind, and Fancy is busy picturing to 
herself the visit of the Virgin Queen to her haughty sub- 
ject, — recalling the villanies of Varney and the sorrows of 
Amy Eobsart. 

This is Kenilworth' s chief charm; this makes it holy 
ground to the great bulk of its visitors ; for not only his 
own countrymen, but the whole race of civilized man, do 
homage to the genius of Scott, and every nation sends hither 
its representatives to render it. Here may be met with the 
Russian, the French, the Italian tourist, the Student of 
Salamanca and of Heidelberg, and many a pilgrim from 
the "Far West," whose republican prejudices and associa- 



KENILWORTH CaSTLE. 6 

tions are powerless to check the natural reverence with which 
he treads the land of his forefathers, and claims kindred 
with the Saxon race. A stone in the Churchyard records 
the name of one daughter of Columbia who crossed the 
broad Atlantic to return no more, and who rests peacefully 
in the consecrated ground of the Monks of Kenilworth. 

We have no intention of entering upon the ground which 
has already been occupied in the novel of Kenilworth, in 
aught that we may have to say ; for we suspect few will be 
our readers to whom it is not familiar, and who have not 
refreshed their recollections by a glance at Sir Walter's 
notes previous to their visit : but there are other points not 
without interest to the enquiring visitor, on which we pre- 
sume to offer our guidance, and therefore ask permission to 
bear him company. 

The passage from Leamington or Coventry to Kenilworth, 
short as it now is, will afford time to tell all that we know, 
historically, of the place we are about to visit. 

From our first authentic record we learn that Henry I. 
granted the Manor to his Chamberlain and Treasurer, 
Greoffroi de Clinton — a man it would appear of low origin 
but great talents — one of those lucky Normans who settled 
in this country subsequent to the Conquest, earning and 
receiving his share of the great spoil. No part of the present 
ruins can be attributed to an earlier date than the reign of 
Henry I. ; and the portion called Caesar's Tower, is un- 
doubtedly the work of a Norman Architect. Its name, 
which might mislead us to ascribe it to an earlier period, is 
possibly derived from some older building once occupying 
the same site. 

Geoffroi de Clinton did not churlishly keep to himself all 
that the bounty and favour of his Sovereign had bestowed 



4 KENTLWOHTH CASTLE. 

upon bim. A portion he devoted to God, by founding the 
Priory and Church in the valley to the east of the Castle, 
and giving an example of piety and sacrifice, which men 
who hold a purer faith need not be ashamed to imitate. It 
is a pleasing and instructive illustration of the times, that 
in making these gifts he had the consent of the king, and 
also of his own wife and son Geoffroi, which son emulated 
his father in his piety towards God, and in the benefactions 
conferred upon His servants; and bequeathed the same 
excellent spirit to his son Henry de Clinton, who seems to 
have contemplated, if he did not actually take upon himself 
religious vows; his son Henry is the fourth and last of the 
Clintons whose name is recorded in connection with Kenil- 
worth. How that connection ceased cannot be traced, but 
during the tenure of all these three decendants of the first 
Geoffroi de Clinton, the Castle seems at intervals to have been 
vested in the Crown. Thus in the 19th Henry II., it was 
possessed and garrisoned by the King, against whom his 
eldest son was then in arms, aided by king Louis of Prance. 
The provisions laid in as store at this time afford a valuable 
example of prices in the 12th century : 

100 Quarters of Wheat 
20 Quarters of Barley 

100 Hogs 

40 Cows, salted 

120 Cheeses 

25 Quarters of Salt .. . 
The other records which shew from time to time that this 
Castle continued in the king's hands, contain much curious 
matter illustrative of medieval times. At one time the 
Sheriff accounts to the King for money paid in lieu of 



£. s. 


d. 


8 8 


2 


1 13 


4 


7 10 





4 





2 





1 10 






KENILWORTH CASTLE. 5 

feudal service in guarding the Castle, and also for rent 
received from those who, in those turbulent times, sought 
security by residing within the walls ; then we find charges 
per contra for repairs done, for fortifications strengthened, 
(these especially in King John's time) ; for repairing the 
banks of the lake, for a boat to lie near the door of the 
king's chamber, and for 5 tons of wine, brought from 
Southampton ; shewing that the scheme of railway com- 
munication from Birmingham to that Port has not the merit 
of originality. From the same source we discover that 
Kenilworth Castle was used as a Royal Gaol, and as a 
Eoyal Residence, for which latter purpose it was richly de- 
corated; and that in 22 Henry III. it was assigned as a 
residence for the Papal Legate then in England, afterwards 
Pope Adrian the 5th. 

In 28 Henry III. appears the first mention of a name 
much celebrated in English History in connection with 
Kenilworth Castle : Simon de Montfort was appointed 
governor. Pour years later the custody of the Castle was 
granted to Alianore, the king's sister, wife of the said 
Simon, at which time the woods between Coventry and 
Kenilworth were cut down to a breadth of 6 acres for the 
security of passengers. Again 6 years later, the Castle was 
granted to Simon and his wife for their lives, and became 
the stronghold of that party, which some historians have 
identified with the oligarchical, some with the popular cause 
in this country. 

In the struggle which ensued between Henry and his 
powerful subject Kenilworth became a place of great im- 
portance. In 48 Henry III., soon after the king had taken 
Northampton, and success seemed leaning to his side, an 
attack was made by John Gifford, then governor, a knight 
c 



6 KENILWORTH CASTLE. 

of great valour and a fierce partizan of de Montfort, upon 
Warwick Castle then in the possession of Wm. Mauduit, a 
friend of the king, whom with his wife and family he 
brought prisoner to Kenilworth, having demolished a great 
part of the fortifications at Warwick. Soon after this Henry 
and his son Edward were taken prisoners by the barons' 
party, in the disastrous battle of Lewes, but the prince ere 
long made his escape, and raising an army, proved by his 
vigour and martial talents more than a match for the veteran 
de Montfort. Eoused by the daily accessions to the royal 
cause, the E. of Leicester sent his son Simon into the North 
to collect succours, who brought hither to Kenilworth 
almost 20 banners with a great multitude of soldiers. Here 
they established their head quarters, and hence went to 
Winchester where they spoiled the city, but soon after return- 
ed to Kenilworth. Meantime treachery was busy among 
them. Ealph de Ardern, a Warwickshire man in the rebel 
army, was in communication with Edward, and sent infor- 
mation of the return of this party of the younger de Mont- 
fort to Kenilworth. Edward was then at Worcester and 
started from that city as if with the purpose of marching to 
Salisbury ; but he soon turned aside towards Kenilworth, 
and arriving late at night near the castle, concealed his men 
in an hollow and there placed them in order. While this 
was going on they suddenly heard a great noise which made 
them fear they were discovered and their purpose of surprise 
defeated, but it proved to be nothing but a convoy going 
to fetch provisions. This they seized, and making use of the 
fresh horses, fell upon the town and monastery, and made 
many prisoners with little loss to themselves. Among these 
were 15 that bore banners ; young Simon de Montfort 
escaped, having slept that night in the castle and so secured 



KENILWOKTH CASTLE. 7 

himself, but his banner was taken. Edward returned im- 
mediately to Worcester with his prisoners. 

In the meantime de Montfort, ignorant of his adversaries' 
movements, marched from Hereford with the intention of 
joining his forces to those of his son at Kenilworth, but 
when he had come to Evesham he was met by Edward who 
had divided his forces into three divisions, one of which he 
caused to display the banners taken at Kenilworth and to 
approach the rebels from the north, that they might suppose 
it to be the array of young de Montfort coming to his aid. 
This device partially succeeded, and it was not till the forces 
were drawing near each other that de Montfort discovered 
the danger of his position. Nothing daunted he encouraged 
his men, reminding them that they were fighting for the 
laws of the land, and in the cause of God and Justice. But 
his Welsh allies fled even before the battle began, and he, 
with his eldest son and most of his chief friends, was slain, 
while others were wounded and made prisoners. This 
battle was fought on the 4th of August, 1265, 49 Henry 
III. Kenilworth afforded a place of refuge to the scattered 
remains of the rebel party. Here young Simon de Mont- 
fort still maintained the war, and to him gathered the 
friends and followers of them that had been slain at 
Evesham, much embittered by their loss. Kenilworth 
became the centre from which he exercised an almost regal 
authority, sending out his officers and bailiffs to drive 
cattle and raise contributions. This continued for the space 
of about nine months, from the autumn of 1265 to mid- 
summer in the following year, when Henry, having been 
restored to the throne at Winchester, and being determined 
to crush this last effort of the rebellion, came down with a 
strong force and beleagured the Castle. In the meantime 



8 KENILWORTH CASTLE. 

young de Montfort, fearing to be shut up in Kenilworth by 
the king's superior forces, had made his escape to France, 
to solicit succours there ; but his place was well supplied 
by the governor whom he had left behind, and the efforts 
of the besiegers were vigorously repulsed. The king then 
offered terms to those in the castle and also to de Montfort, 
who had returned and gathered forces in the Isle of Ely. 
The celebrated Dictum de Kenilworth was published, but 
rejected by the rebels, as containing too hard conditions 
for them to accede to. The siege lingered on, but at last 
disease made its appearance in the castle, and after a second 
unsuccessful attempt to come to terms, it was at length 
agreed that the castle should be rendered, if, upon message 
sent to the Isle of Ely, it should appear that de Montfort 
could hold out no hope of relieving the garrison. The 
strength and importance of the place are sufficiently indi- 
cated by these favourable terms. But after the message 
was dispatched the disease, which was dysentery, kept 
increasing, and the survivors, without waiting de Montfort's 
reply, surrendered the castle on St. Thomas' day, after the 
siege had lasted six months. Henry forthwith retired to 
Oseney, in Oxfordshire, where he kept the feast of the 
Nativity. 

Thus Kenilworth fell once more into the hands of the 
king, who bestowed it on his son Edmund, E. of Leicester. 
This prince was in possession in 7 Edward L, at which 
time we find it recorded that the pool on the south side of 
the castle was half a mile long and a quarter broad. 

In the same year there was held here a famous passage of 
arms, called that of the Round Table, beginning on St. 
Matthew's eve, and continued till after Christmas Day. 
This was the best age of chivalry ; and such exercises as 



KENILWORTH CASTLE. 9 

these were of frequent occurrence. Roger Mortimer, Earl 
of March, was the chief mover of these diversions, which 
consisted of tilting and tournament, and also of dancing 
among the ladies. 

Edmund of Lancaster was succeeded in possession of 
Kenilworth by his son Thomas, but this nobleman having 
engaged in a rebellion against his cousin, Edward the 
second, was beheaded at Pontefract in the loth year of that 
king's reigu, and his estates reverted to the crown.* This 
ill-fated monarch purposed to make Kenilworth a royal 
residence, but within a very few years, Henry Earl of Lan- 
caster revenged his brother's death, having seized Edward 
in Wales and conveyed him as a prisoner to Kenilworth. 
While he was here confined, a parliament was held at West- 
minster, which required his abdication in favour of his son, 
upon the granting of which he was conveyed to Berkeley, 
and thence to Corfe Castle; and finally being brought back to- 
Berkeley, was there foully and most barbarously murdered. 

In the first year of Edward III., Henry of Lancaster 
above-named, was rewarded for the part he had taken in 
the late successful rebellion by restoration to all the estates 
of his brother Thomas, whereof this castle formed a part. 
He enjoyed it eighteen years, having died and been buried 
at Leicester, in 19 Edward III. He was succeeded by his 
son Henry, then Earl of Derby, and subsequently in suc- 
cession Earl of Leicester and Duke of Lancaster, who also 
died in peaceful possession of Kenilworth, on the Tuesday 
next after the feast of the Annunciation of our Lady, 35 
Edward III. leaving two daughters, Maud and Blanch, 
as his joint heiresses, — aged respectively 22, and 19; the 

* It seems probable that his fate was partly owinsf to his having been 
accessory to the execution of Piers Gaveston on Blackiow Hill. 



10 KENILWORTH CASTLE. 

former of these married William Duke of Bavaria, while the 
marriage of the latter brought Kenilworth, as her portion 
of the inheritance, into the hands of one of its most illus- 
trious possessors — John of Gaunt, son of Edward III., and 
soon after created Duke of Lancaster. Kenilworth became 
to him a favourite place of abode and he added largely to it ; 
a considerable portion of the ruins still bear his name, and 
prove the magnificence of his taste. At his death his son, 
Henry Bolingbroke, was absent from England, having been 
banished by his cousin Richard II., who treacherously siezed 
all the property of his uncle and thus led the way to his 
own overthrow and death. By the accession of Henry IV. 
Kenilworth, his private property, was once more in the 
hands of the crown. Henry V. must have visited the place 
for it seems that he erected a building in the low marshy 
ground, near the tail of the pool called Le plesans en marys. 
And so it continued during the wars of the roses to be a royal 
residence, and is mentioned in the act of the first of Henry 
VII. as part of the possessions of the Dutchy of Lancaster, 
then united to the Dukedom of Cornwall. Henry VIII. 
bestowed much cost in repairing the castle, and removed 
the building set up by Henry V. and placed part of it in 
the base court of the castle, near the Swan tower. 

Kenilworth continued the property of the crown till it 
was granted by Queen Elizabeth, in the 5th year of her 
reign, to Robert Dudley, (son of John Dudley, Duke of 
Northumberland ) whom in the following year she created 
Earl of Leicester. This nobleman commenced and carried 
through great alterations in the place, building the entrance 
gateway and tower on the north side, the noble and lofty 
range called Leicester's buildings ; rebuilding the flood- 
gate or gallery tower, at the further end of the tilt yard, 







V,EEN E " ZAE «H. S V 1S[T TO KKNILWORTH CASTLE 

IN] 575. 



KENILWORTH CASTLE. 11 

and Mortimer's tower at the end next the castle. He also 
enlarged the chase, and is said to have expended about 
£60,000 on this place — an enormous sum of money in those 
days. The celebrated visit of Queen Elizabeth took place 
in July, 1575, full particulars of which will be found in the 
notes to the novel of Kenilworth. On the death of the 
Earl of Leicester, Kenilworth by his will went first to his 
brother Ambrose, Earl of Warwick, for his life, who 
survived him but one year ; and secondly to Sir Eobert 
Dudley, knight, his son, by Lady Douglas Sheffield, 
daughter of Lord Howard of Effingham, whom Leicester 
had secretly married but never owned as his wife, — and in 
whose lifetime he married the Lady Lettice, Countess of 
Essex. This Eobert Dudley endeavoured to establish his 
legitimacy by proof of his mother's marriage, before a com- 
mission at Lichfield, but was stopped by a command of the 
Lords of the Council, ordering the whole matter to be 
brought into the Star Chamber. Here the strong evidence 
which was brought forward of Leicester's marriage, proved 
of no avail, the whole proceedings were ordered to be 
sealed up, and no copies taken without the king's special 
license, and Sir Eobert finding his hopes of obtain' g jus- 
tice very remote, obtained leave to go abroad for three 
years. While absent he was summoned to return, but failed 
to obey, and being pronounced in contempt, his castle and 
lands of Kenilworth were seized for the king's use, and 
upon survey made were estimated as follows :— 

&. s. d. 
In Lands - - - 16431 9 

In Woods - - - 11722 2 
The Castle - - - 10401 4 



Total - - - -£38554 15 



12 KENILWORTH CASTLE. 

Sir Robert however still retained an interest in the estates, 
for which he received a proposal from Prince Henry, eldest 
son of James the first, who desired to become possessor of 
the whole demesne. The purchase money was fixed at 
£14,500, saddled with the condition that Robert Dudley 
should, during his life, hold the constableship of the castle 
by patent from the prince. Not above £ 3000 of this pur- 
chase money had been paid when Henry died, nevertheless 
Charles as his brother's heir took possession, and obtained 
a special Act of Parliament in 19 James I. to enable the 
Lady Alice, wife of Robert Dudley, to alien to him her right 
of jointure, which she did in consideration of £4,000 paid 
to her from the exchequer. With the possession of King 
Charles in 1640, Dugdale's History of Kenilworth Castle, 
whence the information given above is chiefly derived, 
comes to an end. Its subsequent history is told in a few 
words. Towards the close of the civil war it shared the 
fate which fell, as by a righteous retribution, so heavily on 
the mansions and castles of that nobility, which, a short cen- 
tury before, had consigned so many ancient religious houses 
to ruin and desolation, and shared their spoils. Henry the 
eighth robb'd the Canons of Kenilworth of their property, 
and pulled down the stately Priory and sold its materials. 
Cromwell and his soldiers acted towards his successor the 
part which Henry had taught them, and Kenilworth, from 
being a stately and noble palace, became a ruin. The 
last addition to its present buildings was made in these 
disastrous days, by the Parliamentary Officer, who made 
Leicester's gateway his residence, and added to it the two- 
gabled building which abuts upon its eastern face. All the 
rest of the castle was dismantled — its floors and its roofs of 
lead pull'd down and sold — its moat drained and its timber 
fell'd. 



KENILWORTH CASTLE. 13 

After the restoration, the land and ruins were granted to 
Lawrence Hyde, second son of Chancellor Hyde, and by 
marriage of a female descendant of Lawrence they passed to 
Thomas Villiers, Baron Hyde, afterwards Earl of Clarendon, 
whose descendants are the present possessors. 

And now having seen what history tells us of Kenilworth 
Castle, let us endeavour briefly to describe the existing 
ruins as they present themselves to the visitor of the Castle, 
and attempt to identify them with the buildings mentioned 
in Dugdale and elsewhere. 

Since the formation of the Railway, nearly all visitors 
approach the Castle by the same road, which leaves the 
village street on the left hand side, and descending a hill 
crosses a small stream, and at the point just beyond where 
it turns sharp to the right brings the visitor upon the first 
portion of the buildings, scarcely visible, in a deep hollow 
and oversown by tree and underwood. The base and side 
walls are all that here remain of the gallery tower, the 
south east termination of the tilt yard, and originally the 
chief entrance to the Castle. From hence the road again 
descends and crosses a second stream, by which the Castle 
mills, now destroyed, were once worked, after it left the 
pool. Here for the first time we come in sight of the princi- 
pal ruins. The building immediately in the foreground with 
a window of two lights of ecclesiastical character is called 
in Dugdale's plan the Water tower ; it seems to have con- 
sisted of two floors, and the upper part was probably used 
as a Chapel; its date is early, apparently in the time of 
Edward 1st or 2nd. Beyond it is seen the long low roof of 
the stables, and then at the north east angle a round tower, 
known as Lunn's tower. This I take to have been the 



14 KENILWORTH CASTLE. 

tower which was built in 3 Henry III., and cost £150 2s. 
3d. an earlier one having fallen about Christmas of the 
preceding year. It probably served as an outpost to the 
great Keep. 

As he turns to the left into Clinton's Green, the pilgrim 
to Kenilworth must be prepared against a vigorous assault 
from the inhabitants of that spot, who will importune him 
to buy, or failing that, to borrow, a guide to the ruins of 
Kenilworth ; we need scarcely say that we advise him 
rather to trust to the book he holds in his hand. Entering 
a small wicket gate in the north wall, he first arrives at 
Leicester's gateway, a square building of four stories, 
flanked at each angle with an octagonal tower and embattled. 
On the porch on its west side he will read the initials R. D. 
carved on the stone, and in the interior, by payment of 
sixpence, may inspect a curiously carved chimney-piece. 
Access to the rest of this interesting building is not to be 
obtained, it being now a private residence. The gabled 
building on the east side has been already mentioned as 
having been added to this tower in the 1 7th century. Passing 
on we come directly in front of the main buildings of the 
castle, and looking westward have the inner court in full 
view. The eastern side of the square, which consisted of 
buildings erected by King Henry VIII. and Sir Eobert 
Dudley, is wholly destroyed, only a vestige of foundations 
remaining here and there. On the right is Caesar's tower, 
a noble keep of immense strength ; its walls are many feet 
thick, and in each angle has been a staircase. Though it 
has been subjected to some alterations, it retains undeniable 
evidence of its Norman origin in the form of its older 
windows, which are narrow and circular headed, and in the 



KENILWOItTH CASTLE. 



15 



character of its buttresses. Some portions of this massive 
building have fallen down, and the huge fragments which 
lie scattered round give a better idea of the vastness and 
solidity of the building, than can be formed by a simple 




Kenilwortii Castle from the Outer Court. 

view of its exterior. Westward from Caesar's tower were 
the kitchen and other offices now represented only by some 
two or three arches and remnants of foundation ; and again 
beyond these lies the building called Mervyn's tower, which 
Sir Walter makes the scene of some of the incidents of his 
novel. It has been a building of considerable strength, and 
of a date intermediate between Greoffroi de Clinton's keep, 
and John of Gaunt 's buildings. Its chambers are all arched 
of stone, and it is the part of the ruin most adapted for the 
purposes of a gaol, and may therefore have been built for 
that purpose in the time of Henry the second. By one of 
the staircases its present summit may be reached, and hence 
may be seen on the right the remains of the Swan tower, 



16 KENILWOBTH CASTLE. 

which formed the north west angle of the outer walls, the 
walls themselves built in 26 Henry III. and bordering the 
lake, and immediately below, the space within the walls on 
which the pleasaunce was re-edified. Adjoining Mervyn's 
tower on the south side is the great banqueting hall, built 
by John of Gaunt. It must have been a noble apartment. 
Its floor was supported on a stone vaulting carried on two 
parallel rows of pillars — the under apartment being probably 
used for stores — the windows, filled with tracery and tran^ 
som'd, are of great height, the space of wall between them 
panell'd, and the fire-places on each side richly ornamented. 
One window at its southern end looking east into the great 
court and one west towards the chase, are its oriel windows, 
while at the north-east end is the entrance doorway, through 
a very beautiful arch, not easily accessible, but which may 
be seen from the interior court. The line of building now 
turns to the east, but it is not easy to trace it distinctly : 
it is however of the same date with the great hall, and con- 
tained, according to Dugdale, rooms called the white Hall, 
the presence chamber, and the privy chamber. — The second 
of these had an oriel towards the inner court. Beyond 
these, and carried out to the south, are the remains of 
Leicester's buildings, a magnificent erection of great height 
and striking beauty. Though the latest in date, their con- 
tinuance appears more dubious than that of the other 
portions of the Castle, the thickness of the walls being 
considerably less. From an accessible point on the outer 
circuit of the walls south-east from Leicester's buildings, a 
view may be obtained of Mortimer's tower, lying just below, 
and of the tilt yard, stretching away south-east to the site 
of the gallery tower, but broken now by the river — its 



KENILWORTH CASTLE. 



17 



bridge being replaced by a modem one just to the west of 
its old position. The low meadows south-west of the tilt 
yard mark the position of the pool, and the rising ground 
beyond shews its limit in that direction. Turning north- 




Leicester's Buildings. 

wards, the interior side of the water tower, stables, and 
Lunn's tower are visible, but fenced out from closer inspec- 
tion, and forming part of the farm yard. Here again are 
features which would seem to indicate that the water tower 
had an ecclesiastical purpose. The stables are partly of 
hewn stone, partly framed in wood, and are probably of 
Leicester's building. If desirous of a nearer view, the 
visitor on leaving the Castle may pass through the farm 



18 KENILWORTH CASTLE. 

yard to the east of Leicester's gateway, and examine Mor- 
timer's tower, of which there are important remains; 
and crossing the bridge trace the walls of the tilt yard to a 
considerable distance. This will also lead him to the 
meadows on the south side, from which perhaps the best 
general view of the Castle may be obtained. This however 
is a point on which we do not presume to dictate : an artist 
may spend with profit many days beneath the walls of 
Kenilworth, and still find new combinations of its varied 
outlines, each more striking and pleasing than the last. 
The view from the south meadows is, nevertheless, the one 
which we seem to have seen attempted most frequently. 

In crossing the little wooden bridge, on the road to the 
Castle, it is probable that the eye may have lighted on the 
Church spire and a neighbouring pile of ruin which lie in 
the valley of the stream to the east, at the distance of some 
third of a mile. These are the parish Church of Kenilworth 
and the poor remains of its once flourishing Augustine 
Monastery, and we cannot let our readers leave Kenilworth 
without a visit to them, and a few words from us respecting 
them. 

Kenilworth Church, dedicated to St. Nicholas, consists of 
western tower and spire, nave, north and south aisles, north 
transept, and chancel, of the following interior dimensions — 



Tower 14 


5 X 


12 





Nave 74 


6 X 


28 


4 


North Aisle 46 


3 x 


10 


6 


North Transept 19 


On.&s. x 


13 


3 E. & w. 


South Aisle 61 


9 X 


12 





Chancel 39 


4 x 


32 


9 



KENILWORTH CASTLE. 19 

But in regard to the aisles, these measurements do not 
include a portion built off at the west end of each, for a 
vestry and lumber room. To begin with the interior. 
The east window of the chancel is in second pointed style 
of three lights, filled with stained glass, in praise of which 
nothing can be said in regard to appropriateness, though 
the purpose of the donor, the late Bishop Butler, cannot be 
too highly estimated. It contains little but coats of arms, 
which are surely out of place in the holiest symbolical 
position of a Christian Church ; and to make way for it the 
ancient window with flamboyant tracery (examples of which 
are rare in this country) was displaced, and now forms the 
entrance to a summer-house in the Vicar's garden. On 
the south side of the chancel are visible the upper portion 
of three sedilia, ogee-shaped and quite plain, under an 
horizontal moulding; the piscina, if any, is hidden by 
wainscotting. The north and south windows are all of two 
lights, of early third pointed character — three on the north 
side exactly corresponding in pattern and position with 
three on the south, but here there is a fourth, which forms 
with the third a doublet in the south-west part of the 
chancel. The north-west corner shows the rood staircase 
and door, now blocked up. 

The chancel arch is low, semicircular, having evidently 
been cut down when the roof was lowered. In the piers of 
the chancel arch are traces of a rood screen. 

The nave arches are not the same north and south, but 
they are all of that simple and frequent character which 
makes it not easy to decide their exact date. Those on the 
north side are probably early second pointed. The pier 
arches are all singly recessed with the edges chamfered. 



20 KENILWOKTH CASTLE. 

The transept opens by arches into the nave and south aisle, 
and the pier on which these arches abut is irregular, and 
much larger than the rest. In the east wall of the transept 
are two square-headed windows of three lights, with the 
upper angles rounded off. In the north wall a three-light 
window, the lights being lancet-shaped and foliated. The 
north aisle has three windows of three lights, of third 
pointed work. The west end has a doorway blocked, and 
there is also a doorway on the north side. 

In the south aisle at the east and south-east is a segmental 
headed window of three lights, third pointed, each light 
being ogee-headed and cinquef oiled. Westward of these 
a similar window of five lights, and a doublet of early third 
pointed windows as in the chancel. This aisle on the ex- 
terior shows a small arched opening in the angle formed 
by the wall and one of the buttresses, with its original iron- 
work and a portion of a shutter within it : — this is one of the 
openings called lychnoscopes, vulne windows, and confes- 
sionals, according to the presumed use to which they were 
put. There is a second blocked in the south-west wall of 
the chancel. Is it not evident that these openings were in 
some way connected with the altars ? The existence of these 
two simultaneously in Kenilworth effectually disprove the 
theory that they symbolize the wound in the Saviour's side. 
The tower opens into the nave by an arch similar to the 
nave arches, but blocked by a gallery. There are also 
galleries in the north and south aisles and transept, and the 
whole ground-floor is pewed. The pulpit, reading pew, 
and clerk's pew stand under the chancel arch, intercepting 
the view of the altar. The font is just in front of them ; 
it is octagonal, with a date, 1664, and some initials ;it is 



KENILWORTH CASTLE. 21 

probably an old font re-worked. The tower is a parallelo- 
gram of three stages, assuming an octagon form in the last 
stage, and capped by a low brooch spire, divided into three 
stages by two interrupted bands of billet-like moulding. 
In the west face of this tower is inserted a fine Norman 
doorway, with the diamond, embattled, zigzag, and beak 
head mouldings in succession. The carved work enclosing 
this doorway is probably of much later date. At each angle 
where the spire meets the tower is the figure of an angel. 
The belfry windows are second pointed; below, in the 
second stage, are small single lights, ogee-headed ; and im- 
mediately over the Norman door is a small third pointed 
window of two lights. On the exterior of the chancel the 
dripstone moulding of the windows is returned horizontally. 
The pitch of the nave roof is good, but whatever it may be, 
it is concealed by a flat ceiling. The chancel roof is nearly 
flat ; on the east gable is a carved bear and ragged staff. 
The clerestory windows are poor and debased. 

The remains of Greoffroi de Clinton's Monastery lie to the 
south and south-west of the Church ; consisting of a gate- 
way in pretty good preservation, a building, now used as a 
barn or stable, and some portions of wall, which serve to 
indicate the extent of ground which it covered. In the 
churchyard a portion of what was probably the chapter 
house has recently been excavated, and there may be seen 
some five or six coped coffin lids, with crosses on them of 
various designs and sizes. The buildings of this Monastery 
were originally in the Anglo-Norman style of architecture, 
as appears from an ancient seal of the Monastery, on which 
is represented a cross Church in that style, with a low 
pointed spire; but the only remnant of this building is 



22 KENILWORTH CASTLE. 

the door now in the west front of the Church tower already 
described. 

A society so wealthy as that of the Augustine Canons at 
Kenilworth, doubtless numbered some among its members 
who were filled with that passionate love of building and 
adorning the Churches and Religious Houses devoted to 
God, which seems to have prevailed in mediceval times : and 
this may have led to the substitution of larger buildings 
and in a later style for the original Norman Monastery ; 
doubtless also the fierce rebellion, of which Kenilworth was 
so long the focus, and in which the Monks suffered severely 
by the exactions of both parties, may have caused the di- 
lapidation and destruction of their house. But happily for 
them they lived in a time when sacrilege was yet held to be 
Sin, and the damages which had been caused by the pressing 
necessities of war were fully recompensed on the return of 
peace. On their complaint of the losses they had sustained, 
the king issued letters patent commending their case to the 
benevolence of their tenants and others as they would 
expect that Grod should bless them, and himself give them 
thanks. The Canons of Kenilworth soon recovered from 
this depression, and from that time till the dissolution of 
the Monasteries in the reign of Henry YIIL, seem to have 
gone on fulfilling the design of their founders and benefac- 
tors, though the records of their history were lost at that 
fatal period of confiscation. The survey, after describing 
the clear income to have been £ 533 15s. 4d. per annum, 
goes on to detail the alms which were still given weekly to 
the poor, and the other distributions which took place. 
Doubtless the Black Canons of Kenilworth may have shared 
in those errors and deviations from the laws of their original 



KENILWORTH CASTLE. 23 

constitution, which being proved in some few cases were 
charged upon all the monastic orders as a justification of 
the intended robbery. Some unworthy members may have 
crept in among them and brought discredit upon their 
house. But when we reflect on the present state of Kenil- 
worth, when we remember that the spiritual charge of so 
extensive a parish is confided to a single Priest, with a 
mere pittance of a stipend, and that it has a large pauper 
population, and is heavily burdened by poor-rates, we can- 
not but desire that reformation, not spoliation, had been the 
result of Henry's survey ; and that at least some portion of 
revenues, which would now have been most ample, was not 
saved from the general wreck to provide against the spiritual 
and temporal destitution which must now prevail there. 
The lapse of years and the rights of property have placed 
the possessors of Abbey and Church lands beyond the 
chance of being called to account by human laws for the 
robberies of which their predecessors were guilty, but that 
God has not ceased to vindicate His own cause may be 
seen by any who will carefully study the history of the 
possessions of many an Abbey and Monastery since the 
Reformation. To their destruction we owe the present 
inability of the Church to meet the spiritual wants of the 
people. May those who have shared the spoil in any the 
remotest degree, see in this fact a call upon them for great 
and immediate exertions to repair the evil that has been 
done. 

But we are running off into a subject on which it hardly 
becomes a guide-book to speak, however intimately connected 
with the objects we have led the reader to inspect, and 
scarcely to be separated from them. Indeed the other two 



24 KENILWOKTH CASTLE. 

buildings in Kenilworth to which we have yet to direct the 
reader's attention, if he has time to spare for them, would 
naturally lead us to similar reflections. The chapels of the 
Roman Catholic and Unitarian dissenters are the immediate 
fruits of that suicidal policy by which the Church was irre- 
mediably crippled at the hands of the first Sovereign of 
England who, in solemn mockery, took to himself the title 
of Defender of the Faith. Both are of late date and of con- 
siderable architectural merit. The former stands some 
distance from the Church, on the north side. Its interior is 
very beautifully adorned, and it contains a valuable stained 
window, and one or two modern brasses : it has a lych-gate 
at the entrance. The Unitarian chapel is very lately erected 
in the third pointed style ; its material is red sand-stone, 
and it has an high pitched roof. Its symbolical features 
hardly accord with the creed taught within its walls, and 
are a curious example of the application of the details of 
mediaeval architecture combined with an utter ignorance or 
neglect of their true meaning. The very gable, which bears 
the legend " Uni Deo," and belongs to a chapel in which 
the doctrine of the Atonement is denied, is crowned with 
the cross of our Lord, while the three-light pointed window 
below, symbolizes, according to the laws of christian archi- 
tecture, the holiest mystery of our faith — the Trinity in 
Unity. This anomalous building stands conspicuous on the 
rise of the hill to the south-east of the Church, and forms a 
striking object in the view from the churchyard. 

Kenilworth contains here and there a few old gabled 
buildings of considerable antiquity, but most of the houses 
are of late date and unworthy of notice. 

H. T. COOKE, PRINTER AND BOOKSELLER, HIGH STREET, WARWICK. 



LBJe'lO 



